


Escaping My Reality

by OneRiot_OneRanger



Series: Escaping My Reality [1]
Category: Jurassic World Trilogy (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Abuse, M/M, Owen is a senior, Zach is a sophomore, will add more tags as they become relevant
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-05
Updated: 2019-11-10
Packaged: 2020-11-24 20:10:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 9,023
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20913419
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OneRiot_OneRanger/pseuds/OneRiot_OneRanger
Summary: Zach has known Owen for a while, but one weekend they actually start hanging out together. Zach discovers that Owen is actually pretty cool and Owen realizes that there’s more going on in Zach’s life than can be seen at school.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first work and I’m really not sure that it’s any good. Just looking to put this out there and see if it should even be continued.

“DIE YOU BACKSTABBING PEACEMAKER!”

“Your insults are getting really contradictory, Carly!” Zach yelled back through the cold November wind. Something whizzed over his head and exploded against the wall in front of him.  
“Shoot,” Zach mumbled, “now she knows where I am.” 

With three enemy agents left and only one teammate left alive, he knew there was only one option left if he wanted to survive. Run.  
He rose to a crouch, checked his tattered old satchel, and frowned. He only had three rounds of ammo left. But he still had the flag, so it would have to do. He stayed crouched behind the barrier for a few more seconds, planning his escape back to base. He slowly peaked around the barrier and could vaguely hear Carly yelling something about barns but he wasn’t listening. Satisfied that it was clear, he darted around the barrier and into the battlefield. 

He could see the base with its makeshift flag, which was starting to be lowered. Zach pushed himself to run faster, hoping he could make it in time to stop whoever was lowering his precious flag. He raced up to the base and saw the twins, James and John, and unfortunately they also saw him. There was a log barrier between them and Zach knew there was no time to go around it. He grabbed two rounds of ammo and lobbed the first in the direction of the twins. It went wide, but the twins still ducked down, just in case. 

Zach knew this was his moment to shine. He would jump over the barrier, take out the twins, and then unite the two flags and it would all be over. His feat of derringer do would go down in history and no one would call him un-athletic again! Zach gathered himself and jumped towards the barrier.  
But he misjudged the timing and his foot caught on the upper log causing him to fall to the ground. On his face. Hard. The twins were momentarily stunned but then started laughing uproariously.

“AAHAHAHAH!! You thought you could actually jump it?!” James laughed, or maybe it was John.

“HA! I’m surprised you’re even still alive!” The twin who was possibly John added. 

Zach groaned and tried to take stock of where things where. He was on the ground and the round of ammo he had been holding had surprisingly not burst but had rolled out of reach. He started to fumble for his satchel for the remaining one, but he was dizzy and the twins quickly caught on.

“Oh no you don’t,” called James.

They moved to stand over Zach and pulled out their own rounds of ammo.

“Hey, he probably has the flag,” John realized.

“You’re probably right,” James agreed, “let’s get him, James.”

“Oh,” Zach thought, “so that’s not James. Oops.”

Zach closed his eyes, dreading what was coming next. He heard two loud splats and then a chorus of “hey, who did that?”  
Zach’s eyes popped open to see the twins’ faces splattered in blue paint.  
Just then someone else jumped over the barrier and stuck the landing. 

“James and John, you’re out! Zach, are you hurt?”  
It was Owen. Of course it was Owen.

“I’m fine,” Zach mumbled, “take the flag.” 

Zach pushed his satchel towards him and Owen grabbed it but he hesitated, looking down at Zach. 

“NOT ON MY WATCH, NEWBIE!”

Zach jerked to see where that had come from, but his head swam and he shut his eyes against the pain.  
He could hear Carly still shouting, and then she and the twins were groaning. Owen must have made it to the flags. At least Zach’s team hadn’t lost, but his head was starting to throb.  
Dimly he heard Owen shouting at Carly about a first aid kit.  
Suddenly, there was a hand on his shoulder. 

“Zach, are you ok?”  
It was Owen. Again.

“Yeah, I’m fine. What happened?”

Owen didn’t say anything for a minute, but then he explained.  
“Got the flags connected and sent Carly and the twins for the first aid kit.”

“Why? Are you hurt?”

“Zach!”

Zach was startled by Owens outburst and opened his eyes. 

“You’re the one that’s hurt, Zach. Stop denying it.”

“I only fell, Owen. I’m fine. I’ve fallen before.” Zach rolled his eyes and mentally added “a lot,” but Owen didn’t need to know that. 

“Zach,” Owen’s voice had gotten quiet, “you’re bleeding.”

“What!” Zach’s hands flew to his face and he could feel the blood seeping from what was apparently a gash on his forehead. “No no no! That can’t... it can’t... Owen! Is it on my shirt yet?”

He could tell Owen was taken aback by his reaction, but he didn’t care right now. He couldn’t get blood on his shirt. He would be dead if he did.  
Owen glanced down at Zach’s shirt before shaking his head.  
Zach sighed. That was good. He could still make this work.

RIP!

Zach glanced over at Owen and his jaw dropped in surprise.  
Owen had taken off his denham jacket and had torn off one of the sleeves. 

“We need to stop that bleeding and I’m assuming you still don’t want blood on your clothes,” Owen offered as explanation. 

“Owen, I’m...” Zach started to protest, but was cut off by Owen.

“Nope, you’re not fine. So shut up and stop squirming or else you’ll bleed to death.”

Zach huffed, but sat still as Owen started wrapping the makeshift bandage around his head. 

Of course on top of everything else, Owen just had to be good at first aid too. Zach didn’t really hate Owen, he actually considered him a friend. But ever since Owen had transferred to his high school at the beginning of the school year, it was apparent that he was good at everything. The girls fawned over the new jock wanting to stare into his brown eyes. The guys wanted to be just like him with his lazily stylish brown hair and muscles. Even the teachers were impressed with how polite and respectful he was. Sure he wasn’t on any sports teams, but he was great at them anyway. Especially at the weekly capture the flag games their friends played in the local park on the weekends. Zach guessed he was just jealous. He had always been very average at most everything he did which left him unnoticed most of the time. The only time he really stood out was when he was failing at athletic type stuff. He was always tripping over his feet in gym class and today was just another example of his inability. 

“At least it’s gives me an excuse when any bruises show up on my face,” Zach thought darkly. 

“Carly’s almost back with the kit.”  
Owen’s comment snapped Zach out of his thoughts.

“Huh? Oh, good.”

“Those looked like some pretty heavy thoughts you were thinking.”

Zach rolled his eyes.  
“Whatever, dude. Thanks for the bandage. I’ll pay you for the jacket.”

“No need.” 

Zach raised an eyebrow incredulously.

“I was planning on turning this into a denham vest anyway,” Owen said, “just happened sooner than I thought.”

Zach went to reply, but then Carly arrived with her mom in tow and Owen was quickly forgotten as Carly’s mom started to fix his gash. After several minutes filled with warnings not to do that again, Carly’s mom told Zach to go home and get some rest and drink plenty of water. Zach promised he would and watched as everyone started to head back to their homes. Carly and her mom left first then the twins. But he didn’t see anybody else besides Owen. 

“Everyone else headed home already.”  
“But you didn’t,” Zach pointed out as he stood, swaying slightly from feeling lightheaded.

Owen shrugged, “Wanted to make sure you got home ok. Figured you might be a little dizzy or lightheaded when you finally stand up.”

Zach huffed. He didn’t want to admit it but Owen was right. 

“I suppose it’s time to head home,” he stated, trying not to sigh. 

“Sounds like you don’t want to,” Owen commented.

“Yeah, well the only thing I really want to do right now is sleep,” Zach quipped.

Owen laughed and they started walking to the park entrance.  
They walked in silence till they reached the edge of the road that led into the park.

“Where do you live at?” Owen asked.

“The Nublar subdivision,” Zach answered.

“Seriously? That’s where I live. I never realized you did too.”

“Yeah, that’s weird.” Zach agreed, but realized it really wasn’t. He was always out early to get to school and he would hang around the park a little longer most weekends after their games. Being home wasn’t exactly his favorite thing these days.  
The boys walked back to their subdivision at slow pace. There was no need to rush back and Zach didn’t want to go too fast in case he got lightheaded again. He’d already embarrassed himself enough for one day. They turned onto the main road of Nublar and went past the first three roads before turning into the fourth. 

“Which one is yours?” Zach hadn’t realized they weren’t saying anything until Owen asked the question. He was used to silence on his walks home.

“Oh, sorry,” Zach mumbled, “Fourth road down, oh well that’s obvious. That’s where we are. Anyway the house at the end of the road. The one that opens into the wooded area in back.”

“Cool, I can see your house my window then. I always thought that would be a cool house to live in with the woods back there and everything. I live three houses up from yours,” Owen frowned, “our backyard is a small fenced in thing surrounded by other small fenced in things.” 

Zach laughed at Owen’s description, but realized it was completely accurate. 

”It feels weird not having to go to school tomorrow,” Zach said. 

“Yeah, but I’m so ready for thanksgiving break!” Owen replied. “Well this is my stop.”

Zach looked up at Owen house. It looked like most other houses in Nublar with the garage and cement sidewalk and the second story window above the front door. Not that Zach had expected anything else.  
Zach felt something bump against his arm and looked back down to see Owen poking him with his phone. 

“What?” Zach asked.

“Put your phone number in so I can text you later. Check and make sure you’re still alive.”

Zach rolled his eyes but complied, quickly typing in his number and adding his name. 

“Awesome, well, I’ll catch ya later dude. I’m hungry and I think we’re having hamburgers tonight!”

Zach laughed and waved goodbye as Owen practically hopped up the front steps in excitement.  
He turned to stare down the road at his house.

“I guess it’s time I head back too,” Zach mumbled to himself before trudging slowly back home.


	2. Home Life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zach gets home, but it’s not exactly a warm welcome.

Zach slipped through the back door as quietly as possible, hoping to make it up to his room without being noticed. He could hear his parents, Scott and Karen, yelling at each other in the living room as he quietly padded up the stairs to the second floor where his room was. He quickly turned the corner at the top and almost bowled his little brother over.

Zach reached out to steady him before hissing, “Gray! Why are you lurking up here!” 

“I wasn’t lurking!” Gray protested.

“Shhh!”

“Sorry,” Gray lowered his voice, “I wasn’t lurking. I was listening for the best time to go down and grab some food.”

“Oh,” Zach mumbled, “sorry.” 

“It’s ok, I’m just hungry.”

Zach listened to his parents arguing downstairs and sighed.

“Yeah, me too. How does a pizza sound?”

“Ooh! Sounds good!” Gray agreed. 

“Ok, give me a few minutes and I’ll go down and put one in the oven real quick.”

“Ok.” Gray turned and started back into his room but stopped and looked back at Zach.   
“What happened to your forehead?” 

Zach rolled his eyes. “I fell.” 

“Oh, I guess that’s a good explanation.” Gray went back into his room and closed the door without asking what happened.

Zach just stared after him for a minute before shaking his head and heading down the hall to their shared bathroom. Gray was so weird sometimes. Zach knew that Gray was basically a genius and so his brain worked differently, but sometimes he was just so unusual that it was unnerving. Zach flicked the lights on in the bathroom and looked in the mirror above the sink.

“Great,” he thought sarcastically, “no one will ever see this bandage covering my entire forehead.”

The bandage did cover most of Zach’s forehead. He wanted to take it off, to get it out of sight and just hide the gash with his hair. But Carly’s mom made him promise not to take it off till tomorrow morning. He sighed and turned the water on to wash his hands. There was nothing he could do about it right now. He just needed to make it till the next day without his parents noticing it and then he should be fine. 

Zach let the warm water run over his hands for a while and the dried them. There was really nothing he could do about the bandage except for staying out of sight. His parents would probably be too busy arguing to notice him anyway.   
Zach went to his bedroom and grabbed his headphones before heading downstairs to the kitchen. His music blocked most of the sound out, so he could pretend that everything was...   
Well, not normal exactly. Just not how it was. Better maybe?

Zach started the oven heating then pulled a pepperoni pizza out of the freezer. He had just finished unwrapping it and putting it in the oven when he heard the front door slam violently.  
He took his headphones off and listened.   
Silence.

“Shoot,” he thought, “I’m so screwed if they see me.” 

He didn’t know who had left, but either option was gonna be unpleasant. Zach quickly set the timer on the oven and rushed towards the stairs. He had just made it to the first step when he felt a hand shoot out and grab the back of his shirt, jerking him to a stop.

“Where are you running of to?” 

Zach heard his fathers gruff voice and groaned inwardly. He turned to face Scott before answering.

“Just up to my room.”

Scott stared at Zach’s face before letting his gaze slide up towards his forehead. Zach winced. In his rush to get out of the kitchen, he had momentarily forgotten about his bandage. 

“What the hell happened to you?” Scott asked.

Zach looked down at his feet and wished he was anywhere else but here.

“I asked you a question, boy!” Scott roared. “Answer me!” 

Zach flinched then fumbled trying to answer.  
“I... I... fell.”

“You fell? Doing what?”

“Um... walking home from...”

“Walking home!” Scott interrupted Zach with another roar. “Can’t you even walk the right way?! Are you really that useless that you can’t make it home without falling down like a sissy!”

Scott slapped him across the face, hard. Zach didn’t see it coming because he was staring at his shoes and it sent him stumbling back. His foot caught on the stairs and he fell against wall. He tried to catch himself but ending up sliding down and landing hard in his left shoulder on the stairs.

“You can’t even defend yourself, you worthless piece of shit,” Scott snarled before aiming a vicious kick at Zach’s stomach. 

Zach was only vaguely aware that Scott had yelled some more and then stormed out of the house, slamming the door as he went. He lay on the stairs for a while, trying to catch his breath and not throw up. He hated his father. He hated the yelling and the beatings and he was tired of having to hide everything from everyone. He just wanted to escape from it all, to get away and not come back. But he was still a minor and he didn’t even know where to go. 

Zach laid miserably on the stairs until the timer on the oven went off. He stumbled to his feet and managed to turn it off and take the pizza out. His stomach was still hurting and he had lost his appetite, so he went upstairs and yelled to Gray that their parents had left and the pizza was downstairs. Then he went to his room and laid gently down on his bed. There was nothing he could do about his situation but try to keep his head down and make it till he was eighteen. 

He fell asleep quickly but was roused in the middle of the night by a bad dream. Zach sighed and grabbed his phone to play a game and saw that he had a text message.

Unknown: Hey, it’s Owen. Still alive over there?

“Alive but not really living,” Zach thought as he saved Owen’s number into his contacts.

Zach: yeah, I’m alive

He set his phone down, expecting Owen to be asleep and was surprised to hear his phone buzzing a few seconds later.

Owen: we should hang out tomorrow. Maybe explore the woods behind your house

Zach: sure why not. It’s not like I have anything better to do

Owen: excuse you! Anything I’m involved in is automatically the best thing to be doing right then!

Zach rolled his eyes as he texted back.

Zach: yeah, right. Cause you’re just the best thing around, aren’t you?

Owen: yes, I am. So glad you’re catching on quickly

Zach: I was being sarcastic

Owen: I know, but I chose to take it as a compliment of sorts

Zach: ugh! Whatever.   
Zach: let me know when you’re heading this way tomorrow. There’s a tree in the backyard that’s right in front of my window. I’ll meet you at the bottom of it

Owen: cool beans. Night!

Zach didn’t bother to respond. Owen was impossible, but maybe if Zach hung around him, he could gain some of Owen’s natural athleticism. Couldn’t hurt to try.   
Zach sighed and kept thinking about tomorrow until he drifted off to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, there it is. We’ll see more of Owen next chapter. Like actual physical Owen. Hope y’all are liking this. Comments always welcome


	3. Exploring

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zach checks out the damage from last night and does some homework before Owen comes over. They explore some of the woods and get to know each other better and an unexpected surprise waits for Zach at home.

Zach woke up a little before noon Wednesday morning. He could tell just by moving that his stomach would have a large bruise but he wasn’t sure how bad his face was. He wasn’t sure he wanted to know either. He groaned as he sat up in bed to grab his phone. That bruise was going to be a pain in the neck. He checked his phone and saw he had a text from Owen. 

Owen: ok, so I was gonna come over this morning but forgot about a doctors appointment. I’ll be over this afternoon 

Zach nodded understanding, then remembered that Owen wasn’t gonna be able to see that.

Zach: cool beans 

Zach put his phone in his pocket and carefully stood up. He should be fine as long as he didn’t make any sudden movements. He headed down the hall and into the bathroom to take off his bandage and check his face. 

“It could be worse,” Zach thought as he looked at himself in the mirror. There was some slight bruising from the slap but it was only slightly tinged purple and you really had to be looking for it to notice. At least he had that going in his favor. Zach realized he had never changed since yesterday and decided he should take a shower before Owen came over later.  
He started taking his shirt off, but gasped suddenly as a wave of pain from his left shoulder hit. He had forgotten about falling on the stairs last night. Once the shirt was finally off, Zach paused to inspect the two bruises. His shoulder was definitely bruised, but his stomach was a deep shade of purple. It stood in stark contrast to the light greens and yellows that covered his chest and back and upper arms. 

“One day there won’t be any color there but my own skin color,” Zach Zach thought wearily. “But today isn’t that day.”

He knew that that day wouldn’t come for a while, but he knew it was out there and that’s part of what kept him going. Kept him pushing through the pain and fear and misery.  
Zach sighed again and finished undressing. He turned the shower on, waited until the water was the right temperature, and stepped under the relaxing spray. 

Zach was drying off when his phone buzzed again. He had set it on the counter by the sink when he had undressed and picked it up now to see who it was. 

Owen: ...you stole my line :(

Zach smiled as he replied.

Zach: didn’t know you had it copyrighted 

Owen: whatever. Wyd?

Zach: just got out of the shower. Probably about to grab some food. May do some homework depending on when you’re coming over 

Owen: ugh! Homework, yuck.  
Owen: I’m still at the doctor’s. Again, yuck. So I won’t be over for a couple hours

Zach: homework is probably better than doctor’s office :)

Owen: you will pay for that later

Zach: Uh huh, sure

Zach waited for a while but Owen never responded, so he went back to his room and pulled on some fresh underwear, some socks, some sweatpants, and his favorite hoodie. He made his way to the top of the stairs and listened for any sound of movement. Hearing none, he quickly went down the stairs, heated up some of the leftover pizza and headed back to his room. As he passed Gray’s room he heard a loud crash, so he knocked on the door.

“You ok in there, Gray?”

“Yeah,” Gray yelled back, “I just accidentally knocked over my toolbox. Sorry.”

Zach rolled his eyes. Gray was forever tinkering with this or that, trying to improve things or understand how they worked. Zach had finally gotten him the toolbox for his twelfth birthday this year so that Gray would stop ruining random household items in an attempt to use them as tools. 

Once he was back in his room, Zach set the pizza on his desk and pulled out his computer and textbooks. He set to work on his math homework first and then started on his creative writing assignment. He was still working on it a couple hours later when his phone buzzed again.

Owen: I’m free! Be over in a couple minutes 

Zach: cool beans 

Owen: ...

Zach laughed and saved his homework before grabbing his shoes heading downstairs with his plate. He dropped it off in the sink and put his shoes on before heading out to the backyard. 

As he stepped out, he saw Owen, dressed in jeans and a long sleeve shirt with a denham vest, casually leaning against the crepe-myrtle tree.

“You sure got here fast,” Zach commented. 

“Guess I did,” Owen laughed, “sorry.”

“No, you’re fine. Just wasn’t expecting it.” 

“How do you like my vest?”

“Please tell me you didn’t.”

“Oh, I totally did!” 

“Ugh,” Zach groaned, “why?”

“I told you why yesterday. Besides I was bored last night and needed something to do.”

“I still don’t like that you ruined a good jacket just for a bandage for me.”

“Hey, you needed it and truly this wasn’t even a good jacket.”

Zach shot Owen a look that said “yeah, right.”

“Really,” Owen said, “I have another denham jacket at home that has fleece lining and is super warm. I’ll bring it next time to show you.”

“Next time?” Zach thought. “He’s already planning for a next time?” Zach was surprised that he found that idea pleasing. There was something about Owen that just made Zach laugh and he missed laughing. He didn’t really have much to laugh about these days. And plus Owen was definitely hot.

“No!” Zach thought, “you can’t go there. He’s not gay and would think you’re weird and it’ll never work cause you’re too damaged and...”

“Zach?”

Owen’s voice brought Zach out of his sudden panic.

“Zach, are you ok? You got really pale and kinda zoned out.”

“Oh, yeah,” Zach mumbled, “sorry.”

“It’s ok, dude. Just want to make sure you’re ok.” Owen punched Zach lightly in the shoulder and headed off towards the woods behind Zach’s house. 

Zach blushed and stared after Owen till he turned and called back, “you coming or not?”

Zach lurched forward trying to follow, but stumbled and fell down.  
He heard Owen laughing as he was laying on the ground trying not to die of embarrassment. When he finally looked up, Owen was standing over him with his hand held out. Zach grabbed it and Owen helped him get back to his feet. They were closer now, barely a foot apart, still holding hands and just looking at each other. Zach realized this after a few seconds and quickly pulled his hand away. 

“Um,” Zach blushed and looked down at his shoes, “thanks.”

“No problem.” Owen’s voice sounded softer for a second, but quickly returned to its normal state. “Let’s go see what’s in those woods.”

They walked in silence for a while, simply enjoying each other’s company and the feeling of being away from the subdivision. Owen eventually broke the silence.

“Your gash is looking better today.”

“Yeah,” Zach replied, “things tend to look better without blood covering them.”

Owen laughed at that and they continued exploring. There wasn’t much in the way of wildlife, just a few squirrels and birds. The trees started growing closer together and Zach was content to let Owen go first to forge a path. They made small talk as they walked, discussing school and the teachers and homework and the latest movie and anything else that came to mind.

“I wonder how far we are from Nublar,” Owen said after a while.

“Hmm,” Zach replied, “hard to tell.”

Owen stopped and looked around, taking in the surrounding trees. 

“What’s up?” Zach asked.

“I’m gonna climb a tree to see where we are,” Owen explained.

“You’re going to what?”

“Climb the tree,” Owen explained again as he jumped up and grabbed one of the thicker low-hanging branches.

“Owen! Be careful!” 

“Calm down, I’m fine.”

“I can’t get you out by myself if you fall and break something, you know,” Zach muttered while staring up and watching Owen’s progress.

To his credit, Owen seemed completely at ease as he pulled himself up from one branch to another. Zach lost sight of him after a bit, but could still hear the leaves and branches rustling and creaking as he moved upward. 

“Zach,” Owen called down.

“Yeah?”

“You should totally come up here and see this. It’s beautiful!”

Zach blanched at the thought. 

“Um, yeah, no, I’m good,” he yelled up at Owen. “Thanks though.”

He heard no response from Owen, but the rustling of leaves signaled his descent through the tree. Owen waited till he was standing on the lowest branch to say anything.

“Why not?”

“Cause I, uh, don’t want to,” Zach replied nervously.

“Yeah, but like, why?” Owen pushed. “You’ve climbed a tree before, right?”

Zach stared down at his shoes and realized that one of his shoelaces was coming untied. He bent down and was re-tying it when he heard a heavy thud.  
He looked up and saw that Owen had apparently jumped down from the tree.  
Owen crouched down beside Zach and put his hand on his shoulder. 

“Hey, it’s ok if you don’t know how, Zach. There’s nothing wrong with that.”

Zach frowned. “I just never thought it would be a good idea since I’m so clumsy and all that.”

“I can help you, if you want. Be there to make sure you don’t get hurt.”

“Maybe,” Zach replied skeptically, “I’ll think about it.” 

“Ok.” Owen stood and stretched. “Well, we’d better start heading back. It’s about to get dark.” 

“Sounds good.”

They headed back through the woods and it wasn’t too long before they were back at Zach’s house. 

“Hey, can I use your bathroom?” Owen asked.

“Um,” Zach glanced at the driveway, but didn’t see any cars, “sure, I’ll show you where it is.” 

They went in the back door and up the stairs and Zach pointed to the bathroom door.

“That’s the bathroom and my room is the last door down the hall.”

“Awesome, thanks!”

Zach went into his room and saw that there was a note on his bed. 

Zach,  
Mom came back and said that we were going to visit aunt Claire. You weren’t home and I tried to stall, but we’re heading out now. Dad too. They said you’re on your own for the weekend. Sorry.  
Gray

Zach sighed.  
“Seriously?” He thought. “Just up and leave me by myself? Whatever. At least I don’t have to deal with dad. Food might be a problem though.”

A phone started ringing in the other room and Zach could faintly hear Owen answer it. He ignored it and tried to figure out what his next step was until Owen knocked on his door. 

“Come in,” Zach called.

“Hey,” Owen said as he opened the door, “my mom just called. It’s supper time and... ooh! Dinosaurs!”

Zach’s head snapped up to look at Owen, who was setting his phone down on Zach’s desk to pick up one of the dinosaur figurines that Zach had displayed on his desk. 

“Oh, those are... I mean, they aren’t toys, I... well they are, but that’s not what I use them for.” Zach flushed and wished he had remembered to put those away before Owen came in. 

“Who cares what they are or what you use them for, they’re awesome!”

Zach stared at Owen in disbelief. 

“What?”

“They’re awesome! I love dinosaurs. Especially the velociraptors.” 

“I... wow. Ok”

Zach couldn’t figure out what to say, but Owen took care of it for him. 

“Ugh, I have to go home right now, but I totally wanna know what you have these for later.” 

“Ok,” Zach said, still slightly dumbfounded.

“Ok, dude. See ya later. I enjoyed today.”

“Yeah, me too. Bye.”

Zach watched Owen leave and slowly sat down on the bed. Too much information too quickly. He needed to step back and figure out what all had just happened. 

He figured he could make it for a couple days between the leftovers in the fridge and stuff in the freezer so he should be fine there. He’d been alone at the house before so that would be fine too, especially since his dad wouldn’t be home for a few days. Maybe some of his bruises could have time to heal. Thankfully they hadn’t given him any trouble today while Owen was around. 

He had had a lot of fun with him today. Zach thought back to when Owen has pulled him back to his feet. 

“Am I just imagining things or did we really share some kind of moment there?” Zach thought. “Wait! No! No, it doesn’t matter. I can’t get my hopes up cause then they’ll be crushed. He’s not gay, we didn’t have a moment, and he wouldn’t be into me even if he was gay.”

Zach flopped back onto his bed, sighed and stared at the ceiling, trying to think of literally anything other than Owen. And how Owen’s hair looked. And how his eyes looked. And...

“Is it just me or is it getting hot in here?” Zach thought. 

He quickly got up, stripped off his hoodie and cracked open his window before gingerly getting back in bed so as not to disturb his bruises. It wasn’t long before he drifted off into a peaceful sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, there it is. It turned out longer than expected but it’s there.


	4. Discovery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zach wakes up to someone in his room and Owen sees his bruises. Neither is completely sure what to do now, but things have been set in motion and now they’re waiting to see where they land.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, this is back to my more normal chapter length. I tried to switch point of view part way through this chapter, so I apologize for anything that gets messed up because of it. Let me know what y’all think about it and enjoy!

“Zach! What the... Zach!”

Zach was startled awake by someone gasping and calling his name. He opened his eyes and groggily tried to figure out what was going on. He was freezing, probably because he didn’t have a shirt on. But his room was freezing too. His family wasn’t home so they couldn’t have adjusted the thermostat this low. Zach finally remembered that he had left the window cracked when he fell asleep. 

“What time is it anyway,” Zach thought.

He rolled to one side to check the window and realized there was a person standing in front of it. 

“Aaaahhh!” Zach screamed and rolled away from the person, falling off the opposite side of his bed and rediscovering his bruises in the process. 

“Zach! What the hell? Are you ok?”

“Oh, no no no,” Zach thought. “It’s Owen. Owen is in my room, while I was shirtless. He probably saw my bruises. Oh, fuck. I’m screwed.”

“Zach!” Owen was trying to get his attention and had started to walk around the bed. 

“No!” Zach yelled at him. “Get back! Don’t look at me.”

Owen backed away from Zach, stunned.

“Just, what are you even doing here? What time is it?” Zach was exasperated and terrified at the same time. He wasn’t sure what to do and he wasn’t sure what Owen was going to do. 

“I forgot my cell phone on your desk. It’s a little after ten at night. I climbed the tree to see if I could get your attention, but it was cracked open so I just came inside and...” Owen trailed off. When he spoke again, his voice was full of concern.  
“Zach, what the hell happened to you?”

Zach flinched and started shaking.

“Zach...” Owen trailed off as Zach turned and raised his head to look at Owen over the bed. 

“Zach, you must be freezing.”

Zach was indeed freezing and shivered as he watched Owen take off the denham jacket he was wearing. 

“Here put this on,” Owen said as he threw his jacket to Zach.

Zach threw his hands up in surprise to try and catch it but he was too slow and it caught him in the head. 

“What?” Zach asked once he removed it from his head.

“Put it on,” Owen said again as he moved to the window. “You’re shivering and it’s really warm.” 

As Zach shrugged on the denham jacket, Owen closed the window then leaned on the window ledge, staring out into the dark. Zach watched him for a while, wondering what to do.

“Where’s your family?” Owen asked without turning around.

“They aren’t here right now.” Zach mumbled. “They headed to Aunt Claire’s for Thanksgiving I guess.”

Owen whirled around and Zach flinched again as he almost yelled, “You mean they..!” Owen stopped mid sentence and sighed. “I’m sorry. Where’s the thermostat, we need to get it warm in here.”

“Down at the other end of the hall.”

Zach watched as Owen crossed his room and went out into the hall. He huddled closer against his bed and felt the jacket starting to warm his body. He was freaked out. He didn’t know what Owen was going to do and he didn’t know what he should do himself. Should he run? No, that wouldn’t do any good. Zach closed his eyes and sighed. He just hoped Owen wouldn’t hate him.

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Owen was furious. He really wanted to punch something, but he didn’t want to put a hole in Zach wall. He thought back over the day and sighed. It had been going so well at first. 

He had really enjoyed spending the afternoon with Zach. He was fun to be around and Owen didn’t have all that many friends at school. He had gone home for supper, which was a delicious gumbo his mom made, and then watched a movie with his family. It wasn’t till a couple hours later as he was heading to bed that he realized he didn’t have his phone. He had realized he put it down on Zach’s desk and had never picked back up. His parents would ground him if they found out he left it somewhere. They wee really easygoing, letting him come and go as he pleased as long as he still spent time with his family. 

Owen had decided to head over to Zach’s and grab it, so he grabbed his denham jacket and quickly sneaked through the house and quietly stepped outside. He had walked towards Zach’s house enjoying the cool night air. He hadn’t seen any cars in the driveway so he had gone around to the back and looked up towards Zach’s window. There was a light on but no one had been moving around, so Owen had decided to climb up through the tree to the window so he would be able to look in. Thankfully that tree was easier to climb than the one in the forest so he was able to climb it without needing much light. 

He had climbed carefully up and made it to the outside window ledge. He had looked inside and saw sprawled on his bed across the room. He had been about to tap on the window when he realized that it was open slightly. So he had just opened it the rest of the way and stepped in. 

“That’s where things went wrong,” Owen thought as he walked down the hall to the thermostat.

Owen had gone to grab his phone, but he looked at Zach. It was supposed to just be a simple glance, a cursory look to make sure Zach was ok. But he wasn’t ok. In just that small glance Owen had easily seen the two dark purple bruises on Zach’s body. It was the second glance that really shoo him. The evidence of numerous past bruises were shown by the green and yellow discoloration across Zach’s chest and arms. 

Owen had gasped and called Zach’s name. Then Zach rolled over, yelped, and fell off the bed. Owen had started over to make sure he was ok, but stepped back when Zach started yelling at him. He had finally realized that Zach must be freezing, so Owen threw him his denham jacket and went to shut the window. 

He hadn’t known what to do. Still didn’t frankly. He had leaned on the window ledge and stared outside, watching the darkness try to take away all the light and letting the questions pour through his head.  
Why was Zach bruised like that? Why the hell wasn’t someone worriedly fussing over him making sure he was ok. Where was his family anyway? No cars in the driveway the night before thanksgiving? Something was definitely weird here. His stomach started sinking as a thought started forming in his mind. 

“Where’s your family at?” He had asked.

Zach’s reply was mumbled, but Owen had still managed to hear what was said. 

“They aren’t here. They headed to Aunt Claire’s for Thanksgiving I guess.”

Owen was furious! He had whirled around and hadn’t quite manage to not yell, “You mean they..!” 

Owen had quickly trailed off as he saw Zach flinch. 

“Shit,” he thought to himself. “Of course he’d be scared by loud and sudden movement. Whoever did this to him probably was yelling too. I’m such an idiot!”

He had tried desperately to calm himself down and ended up realizing that the room was still freezing cold. 

He had gotten Zach to tell him where the thermostat was at and now here he was. He quickly adjusted it so that the rooms would heat up quickly, knowing that he would have to come change it again later.  
He wanted answers more than anything, but he needed to make sure Zach was ok first. He made his way back to Zach’s room and saw him curled up in the corner between his bed and wall.  
The sight was heartbreaking.

“Zach?” Owen called.

Zach turned his head to look at Owen and his eyes looked dead and defeated, like there was nothing good in life. 

“Zach,” he started again, “I don’t know what happened to you and I want you to explain if you feel like you can. But first I need to make sure you’re not in any immediate danger from those bruises or anything.”

“No,” Zach’s voice was faint and sorrowful as he replied, “I’m fine. These have been here since yesterday. They shouldn’t be any danger.” 

Owen wanted to cry. Zach sounded so resigned to whatever it was he was facing. He sounded like he had given up. 

“Zach, can you tell me what happened?” 

There was silence while Zach debated with himself before finally nodding. 

“But not right now,” he added. 

“Ok,” Owen sighed in relief, “let’s just get you warm right now.” 

He grabbed a blanket from Zach’s bed to place over him and tried not to cry as he saw tears run down Zach’s face. 

“I promise that I’ll do whatever I can to help you,” Owen thought as he sat down next to Zach. “Whatever I can.”


	5. Bruises part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Owen finally gets some answers about what happened to Zach, but he won’t like them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, I’ll apologize in advance because this chapter is a little shorter than usual. I just don’t feel like I can add any more without detracting from the General mood or whatever of this chapter ends.

Owen paced the floor between Zach’s bed and desk. It had been an hour since Zach fell asleep in the corner and Owen was reluctant to wake him up to move him. It had started to get hot in the room so he had gone and turned the heating down some, but now he was restless. He still wanted to punch whoever it was that had been beating Zach up and he was willing to bet that it was the high school’s resident bully, Vic Hoskins. Vic was a nasty character, always looking for a way to get the better over others. Vic had tried to get Owen to join his group when he first transferred in, but Owen quickly saw what kind of person Vic was. Owen didn’t want to be associated with that and had instead started hanging out with Zach’s group of friends. Vic of course took that personally and was always trying to cause trouble for anybody in their group, but especially for Owen. If Vic had shifted his attention to Zach...  
Owen scowled furiously. 

“What’s wrong?” 

Owen snapped out of his thoughts and saw Zach watching him carefully, still mostly shielded behind the bed. 

“Oh, Zach, you’re up,” Owen said, surprised. “I was just thinking about some stuff.” 

Zach looked down, “It was about me, wasn’t it?”

“Well, kinda, yeah”

“I’m sorry,” Zach mumbled. 

“What? Why are you sorry?” Owen asked.

“I’m sorry you had to see the... had to see those...” Zach looked like he was about to cry. “That you had to see me like that and that it happened in the first place.” 

“What? Zach, no it’s not like that.” Owen walked over to the foot of the bed and sat down. “Zach, I was scowling because I’m mad at whoever has been doing this to you, not because I’m mad at you. You didn’t do anything wrong. It isn’t your fault.” 

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Zach shook his head mournfully. He wished it wasn’t true, but Owen was wrong.

“But it is my fault,” he said. 

Owen sat and studied him for a moment.

“How about this,” Owen said after a few minutes, “if you’re up to telling me who is doing this and why, then I will listen to the whole story without interrupting and see if I still disagree with your opinion.

Zach thought about it. Owen was apparently willing to listen as long as he told him everything. It would mean that Owen would know more about Zach than anybody else, but then Zach would know for sure if he was alone in the world or not. Zach decided that it sounded fair enough. 

“I... see it’s because... well really it’s because I...”

“Zach.” Owen’s tone was gentle but firm and Zach immediately went silent, staring down at his hands. “It’s ok. Take a deep breath and calm down a bit, then you can try again. How about that?”

“Can you get me a water bottle first?” Zach asked.

“Of course.” Owen stood and left to retrieve the water bottle but stopped when he got to the door. “Um, where are the waters bottles at?”

“Oh, I’m so sorry!” Zach replied, realizing that Owen had no way to know. “They’re in the kitchen in the pantry. It’s right across from the sink. They should be on the bottom shelf to the left.” 

“Gotcha, thanks.” Owen exited and Zach sighed.

“Am I really gonna do this?” He thought miserably, “Am I really going to tell him just so he can walk away or beat me up too?” 

Yes, he was. He was tired of hiding. Zach stood only to realize that his legs were asleep, so he sat quickly on the bed. He was going to do this. He was going to tell Owen everything, despite the consequences. Better to know pain for sure than to endlessly wonder.  
He heard Owen walking down the hall and took a calm, steadying breath.  
Owen walked in and handed Zach the water before returning to the foot of the bed. Zach took a minute to drink some of the water and Owen waited patiently. 

“First off, my parents are... in the middle of getting divorce. There tends to be lots of yelling when they’re home, which they aren’t much anymore. Mom’s cool and Gray, my younger brother, is great. Gray’s like super smart and is kinda removed, I guess, because he’s always, like, thinking of smart stuff, I guess.  
Whatever. Anyway, he’s Mom’s favorite though, so I’ll get forgotten by her every once in a while, who h is annoying but bearable.  
But Dad’s always angry, I guess because of the divorce thing, but he... he usually...” Zach paused and took a deep breath, steeling himself. “He is the one that caused those bruises. He doesn’t ever touch Gray or Mom, but I guess he takes out his anger or whatever on me. It’s not always violent, sometimes he’s just yelling at me. But, yeah, he still...” Zach stopped and stared down at his hands which lay in his lap. 

There was silence for several minutes and Zach tried to keep himself from crying. 

“Real men don’t cry,” he thought to himself as he clenched his fists. His father always told him that every time he was beating him. “Real men don’t cry!”

“Zach.” Owen’s voice cracked slightly with emotion and Zach looked up at him.

“But why? Why does he take it out on you specifically? Is there a reason?”

Zach looked back to his fists as tears started trickling down his cheeks. 

“Zach, I’m so sorry,” Owen apologized when he saw the tears. “I shouldn’t have asked that, but it’s not your fault. He’s just...”

“IT IS MY FAULT! HE HATES BECAUSE I’M GAY!” 

Neither said a word after Zach’s outburst. Tears kept rolling down Zach’s face as he watched Owen’s hands clench into fists. 

“I know you hate me now too, but please just go. You don’t have to beat me up, I already know I’m worthless.”

“NO!” Owen yelled, shocking Zach. “YOU ARE NOT WORTHLESS!”

Owen moved closer to Zach, who flinched, but Owen ignored that and wrapped Zach in a hug. 

“You are not worthless, Zach. And I don’t hate you. I can’t hate you because if I did then I would have to hate myself, because I’m gay too.” 

It took a moment for Zach to understand what Owen had just said. Then Zach lost any shred of the control he still clung to. He sobbed into Owen’s chest and let out everything that he had been holding onto. He cried and Owen held him, protectively wrapping his arms around Zach. He couldn’t think clearly anymore. All he could do was cry and be held. And Owen seemed content to hold him, gently avoiding where he knew the most recent bruises were.

They stayed there for what seemed like hours to Zach, though it was really only about 20 minutes, before there were no tears left to cry. Zach was worn out by that point and fell asleep with Owen still holding him protectively.


	6. Bruises part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zach. And Owen. They just talk a bit and settle some things.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the late update. I got caught up in school and stuff. And also because I didn’t want to post the last chapter cause it’s, you know, the last. But maybe just for now. Happy reading!

Zach woke up slowly, relishing the warmth surrounding his body. He lay there with his eyes closed, letting himself relax into the arms that were holding him. 

“Somebody’s holding me,” he thought.

Zach’s eyes snapped open and he saw Owen looking down at him. 

“Owen?”

“Sorry, didn’t mean to wake you up,” Owen apologized.

“Oh, no, you didn’t. What time is it?”

“Um, about six a.m., I think.”

“What? I was asleep that long? You... you held me for that long?”

“Of course I did, you were sleeping and I didn’t want to disturb you.”

“You didn’t have to do that, Owen. You must be stiff and sore by now.”

“Nah, I’m fine,” Owen replied. “And I didn’t mind it at all.” 

Zach blushed and realized that Owen was still holding him. He tried to pull away but Owen kept a hand on his shoulder to stop him.

“Zach, are you ok?”

Zach looked down and mumbled a halfhearted, “yeah.”

Owen sighed. “Zach, I’m here if you need me. If there’s anything I can do to help, to...” he trailed off for a second before continuing, “Just if there’s any way I can be there for you, let me know. I’d be happy to help out.”

Zach looked back up and nodded. He could tell Owen really was trying to help on any way he could. But Zach considered himself too damaged to be helped. 

“But what if I’m not?” He didn’t know where the thought came from, but he kind of liked it. It was warm and optimistic. He wasn’t used to that too much recently, so he just went with it.

“Um, Owen?” Zach ventured.

“Yeah?”

“I’m... not ok. I haven’t been for a while. I’m scared of my father but I’m even more scared that he’ll stop beating just me up and start beating up mom and Gray too. And I was scared that you’d hurt me too when you found out I was gay. I know we just started hanging out literally yesterday, but I didn’t want to be alone again.”

Zach had looked down again when he was speaking and tears had started to roll down his face again. He was relieved to have said all of that. He had been keeping it in for so long because he didn’t have anyone to tell. 

He was surprised to feel Owen’s hands cupping his face and tugging it up. Owen waited till Zach made eye contact before speaking.

“I am so sorry that you’ve been hurt like this and wish I could do something about your father, but I promise you that I will be here when you need me. So, please Zach, don’t keep all of this bottled up to yourself anymore. It’s not healthy for you. I promise that I’’ll do my best to make sure you never have to feel alone again. And as far as you being gay, I’ll tell you like I told you last night. No judgement here cause I’m gay too.”

Owen removed his hands and Zach missed his touch. They sat for a few minutes, just letting everything sink in. After a while, Zach decided that he should go get a shirt. 

“Um, I’m gonna go get a hoodie.”

“Ok,” Owen replied. 

Zach stood and started towards his closet, but decided to go ahead and give Owen his jacket back. He carefully took it off and held it out for Owen to take back. Owen stood and accepted the jacket. 

“May I...” Owen trailed off as he stared at Zach’s exposed chest.

“Yeah.” 

Zach watched as Owen gently reached out to touch the bruises that were scattered across his chest and stomach. Owen traced the fading bruises around his stomach and gently prodded occasionally, checking to see Zach’s reactions, but those were the old ones that didn’t hurt anymore. But Owen eventually made his way to the bruise on his chest from last night. Zach winced in pain and Owen apologized. 

Zach hadn’t realized he was crying till he felt the tears spilling down his cheeks. He hated his bruises; they made him feel like he was broken and damaged beyond love. 

“Zach, those bruises don’t define who you are. You are so much more.” 

Zach felt Owen pull him into a hug and let himself melt into the embrace. His tears dried quickly though and he stepped back, looking at Owen and seeing him smile. 

“What?” Zach asked.

“Would you mind if I kissed you?”

Zach didn’t know what to say at first, but finally managed to ask, “Owen, are... are you sure?”

“There’s nothing I want to do more right now.” 

Zach nodded and Owen leaned in and gently kissed him. Zach could feel the softness of Owen’s lips as they kissed and it was the most amazing thing he had ever felt. It was a soft and tender kiss that didn’t last for long, but it still left Zach breathless and wanting more. 

“Owen?”

“Yeah, Zach?”

“I know I’ve got a lot of problems and I’m not sure if you feel the same way I feel about you right now, but I... well...” Zach took a deep breath. “Would you be my boyfriend?” 

Owen’s face burst into a brilliant smile for a while before settling into a warm and gentle grin. 

“Zach, I want you to know that bruises, family, and whatever else you may think detracts from who you are, I still care about you. And I would be honored to be your boyfriend.”

Zach was overjoyed and could feel a gentle peace start to settle over him. Yeah, he had a lot of stuff to work out, but he had someone who liked him despite his situation. He wasn’t sure what would become of their relationship or what would happen in the next few days, but for now, there wasn’t any place he wanted to escape to. 

“Thank you,” Zach said.

“You say that now but being my boyfriend comes with some costs,” Owen replied.

“Oh yeah? What kinda costs are we talking about?” Zach asked skeptically.

Owen smirked and then leaned in to steal another kiss. 

Zach smiled once they pulled apart. 

“Yeah, I think I can deal with those costs.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, that’s the last chapter. I’m willing to come back later and add on to this story, but I feel this is where it needs to leave off, for now. Sorry that it’s a bit short again, but I hope y’all liked it.

**Author's Note:**

> As always, I hope y’all enjoyed. Comment any thoughts y’all feel like sharing.


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